Monthly Archives: December 2018

A group of self-confessed knockaboutsfrom Mudgee forced betting on the NSW Open to be overhauled when they started backing one of their coal minermates, 1000-1 outsider Mark Hale, to win the tournament.

The burly Hale, who missed the cut after finishing the first 36 holes at even par, will at least go down as the man who completely reshaped wagering on the event when the TAB had to change its market following the plunge.

A series of bets, including a couple of $20 wagers, forced Hale’s price into 200-1 pre tournament and fearing the massive liability the bookmaker had to quickly wind in his price at the Greg Norman-designed Stonecutters Ridge Golf Club.

Hale’s mates congregate on a Facebook page designed to discuss their puntingon horse racing and when one of them posted their friend’s odds of winning the NSW Open they began a series of small wagers.

Hale was always going to struggle to make the weekend, but it didn’t stop a group of his mates following him around the fairways in Sydney’s west to lend their support.

“We all had $5 or $10 on him each-way and we got him at crazy prices and we didn’t think we would see a betting market changed like that for an amateur from country NSW,” Hale’s mate Stuart Ferguson said.

Hale’s Facebook page even boasted of having a few beers at the Clarendon Hotel after his first round in which he posted a respectable one-under 71.

It was a long way off the pace from pacesetter Adam Blyth (-16), who carded a scintillating nine-under 63 during his second round to lead by two shots in pursuit of the Kel Nagle Cup.

Queenslander Blythsquandered a four-shot lead at the NSW Open – before he had even made the turn.

And thenlike flicking the switch again hepromptly returned to the near flawless golf he had played all week to winby three shots.

This story Administrator ready to work first appeared on Nanjing Night Net. read more »

ON TRACK: The completed silo painting at Patchewollock. Picture: Hamish Kirkpatrick.THE excitement of the unveiling of the arton the Brim silos has continued, with the announcement of the creation of a silo art trail to be completed in 2017.

Click to see the Out & About Wimmera and Grampians summer edition, which is out now.

Patchewollock is the latest small centreto have a mural completed on its silo and it is hoped that it will continue to draw the interested public to view it.

The initiative is the culmination of State, Federal and Local Government funding.

In all, it will see the creation of fivenew silo artworks which will border GrainCorp’s Brim Silo, a 30m high artwork which has attracted thousands of visitors to Brim each month since it waslaunched in January.

Minister for Creative Industries Martin Foley has announced $200,000 in Victorian Government support towards the project, which will see renowned street artists transform grain silos in six small towns.

This funding will be further supported by $250,000 Australian Government funding via the Drought Communities program.

GrainCorp will provide an additional five silos to be used as canvases for the giant murals as part of their support over the first five years of the project, which is valued at approximately $200,000.

“The Silo Art Trail is a groundbreaking project and an example of how creativity can revitalise a region and shape a new future for a community,” Minister Foley said.

“The Brim Silo put Brim on the map, bringing in thousands of tourists to the town. This new project will spread the benefits across the region and showcase why Victoria is the creative state.”

Yarriambiack Shire Mayor, Cr Ray Kingston, said he was incredibly excited about the economic opportunities the Silo Art Trail would bring to the whole region.

“But, personally, I think it’s also fantastic, and refreshing, to see our ruralcommunities recognised and celebrated in such a positive and culturally interesting way,” he said.

“I couldn’t be more grateful to the people of Brim. They took an enormous step into the unknown by grabbing a pretty strange opportunity with both hands and it put the Yarriambiack Shire Council on the map.”

Led by the Yarriambiack Shire Council in partnership with Melbourne street art company Juddy Roller and Creative Director Shaun Hossack, the project will see internationally renowned street artists working closely with community members to create large-scale silo artworks that refl ect, or tell a story of, the local community.

Victorian artists including Rone and Adnate will be part of the project, alongside Russian artist Julia Volchkovaand a yet to be revealed secret Australian artist.

ON TRACK: The completed silo painting at Patchewollock. Picture: Hamish Kirkpatrick.THE excitement of the unveiling of the arton the Brim silos has continued, with the announcement of the creation of a silo art trail to be completed in 2017.

Click to see the Out & About Wimmera and Grampians summer edition, which is out now.

Patchewollock is the latest small centreto have a mural completed on its silo and it is hoped that it will continue to draw the interested public to view it.

The initiative is the culmination of State, Federal and Local Government funding.

In all, it will see the creation of fivenew silo artworks which will border GrainCorp’s Brim Silo, a 30m high artwork which has attracted thousands of visitors to Brim each month since it waslaunched in January.

Minister for Creative Industries Martin Foley has announced $200,000 in Victorian Government support towards the project, which will see renowned street artists transform grain silos in six small towns.

This funding will be further supported by $250,000 Australian Government funding via the Drought Communities program.

GrainCorp will provide an additional five silos to be used as canvases for the giant murals as part of their support over the first five years of the project, which is valued at approximately $200,000.

“The Silo Art Trail is a groundbreaking project and an example of how creativity can revitalise a region and shape a new future for a community,” Minister Foley said.

“The Brim Silo put Brim on the map, bringing in thousands of tourists to the town. This new project will spread the benefits across the region and showcase why Victoria is the creative state.”

Yarriambiack Shire Mayor, Cr Ray Kingston, said he was incredibly excited about the economic opportunities the Silo Art Trail would bring to the whole region.

“But, personally, I think it’s also fantastic, and refreshing, to see our ruralcommunities recognised and celebrated in such a positive and culturally interesting way,” he said.

“I couldn’t be more grateful to the people of Brim. They took an enormous step into the unknown by grabbing a pretty strange opportunity with both hands and it put the Yarriambiack Shire Council on the map.”

Led by the Yarriambiack Shire Council in partnership with Melbourne street art company Juddy Roller and Creative Director Shaun Hossack, the project will see internationally renowned street artists working closely with community members to create large-scale silo artworks that refl ect, or tell a story of, the local community.

Victorian artists including Rone and Adnate will be part of the project, alongside Russian artist Julia Volchkovaand a yet to be revealed secret Australian artist.

Hands-on knowledge gained in the field has been as valuable for Dan Korf as any classroom-learned lessons.

WEare staring down the barrel of an exodus of industry knowledge and experience in many agricultural industries.

If we don’tbecome proactive in sharing and passing knowledge on to the next generations, it’s going to be lost.

I’m involved in a few ‘young people’ events, and what is often identified as missing is the ‘old people’. And I often hear that the older generations would love to have come along!

Based on the feedback I have received on various initiatives, it’s often the opportunities the next generation gets to talk to the previous generation that is the most valuable, because they can hear directly from their experience, learn how they overcame challenges and get their views on issues we are facing now.

We cannot discount this informal type of professional development.I’m yet to meet someone doesn’tappreciated being taught.

My career followed a somewhat traditional path of jackerooing to management andthe amount of knowledge that I have been lucky enough to receive from the senior people I’ve worked under, has been of as much value to that I have learned in the classroom whether it’s been on production, husbandry, seasons, property information or management.

I am sure that all parts of our agricultural supply chain has its own set of unique skills and idiosyncrasies that will rarely be captured in a formal learning environment.

We have a phenomenal amount of knowledge in any room, at any event, in any community throughout the country.

I urge us all to make the effort to share just one little piece of information with someone who is interested.

What happened when you got that wheat in late? When the cattle had to go on the road? How the government has influenced your business? The trip you had to Italy three years ago?

Make the time and put yourselves in their shoes.

We are operating in a very different environment to twenty years ago, and the opportunities for informal learning are not there in the abundance they once were.

We have a generation that learns and communicates very differently to their predecessors.

But they are smart, switched-on and driven to succeed within an industry they are mightily passionate about.

We are past token positions on industry committees and boards. We don’t have the luxury and shouldn’t seekto segregate based on age.

We are one industry which will maintain our strong cross generational ties.

ByDAN KORFF, Future Farmers Network chairman

This story Administrator ready to work first appeared on Nanjing Night Net. read more »

Mr Shields believes those who were affected by a boil water notice should havetheir water access charges for the quarter waived.

He also criticised council’s handling of the water contamination detection and hopes they will learn lessons from the incident. He said he thought council was too slow in alerting the public, and when they did, he felt they didn’t do it well enough.

“It came through in media releases when realistically, there should have been frantic phone calls to media outlets, calls to radio stations and big industries of Dubbo in that area. The old ‘send a media release and she’ll be right’ attitude isn’t good enough,” he said.

He said E. coli contamination was serious and could have potentially killed someone.

“Healthy people could get away with having that in the system but all it takes is for someone who is already sick or with a compromised health position and you could potentially be looking at fatalities,” he said.

“It’s more serious than just having grotty water, it’s serious and they have to get their reporting up to scratch.”

Mr Shields said it wasn’t good enough for residents to have to boil water to make it safe to drink, or buy bottled water.

“This is a service Dubbo provides to the public and they’re clearly not being able to use that service so they need compensation,” he said.

“In the areas that are affected, I think a quarter of free access would be fair.

“Still charge for usage, otherwise people could go and use massive amounts of waterbut they should work out what the access fee is for the quarter for residences and businesses and waive it.”

Mr Shields said he was aware that some residents had been vocal on social media, criticising council for the existence of the contamination and a four-day gap between detecting the increased E. coli levels and issuing an alert.

“I certainly understand that and I think it’s because public-relations wise it hasn’t been handled properly,” he said.

“There’s stories out there that they knew there was a problem three or four days before it became public. That’s not good enough and that has to be fixed.”

Dubbo Regional Council was contacted but declined to comment.

This story Administrator ready to work first appeared on Nanjing Night Net. read more »